Bloodstained Machinations [Mutatis Mutandis]
by N2
Summary: With the Professor gone and Mystique in charge, what is the future of the X-Men? (post 'day of reckoning') Chapter 4 now up!
1. Blood from

This story takes place after 'Day of Reckoning.' Like, directly after the last episode. This is the beginning of a timeline called 'Mutatis Mutandis' and the events that took place in the prelude ("Left Behind" by starched_undergarments) will come into play during later chapters. 

**Disclaimer:** I of course do not own any of these swell Marvel characters, I just borrow them to make them hump each other. No, really. 

**Bloodstained Machinations   
Chapter One **

"Things are about to get a lot worse." 

Mystique's grin dripped poison, and her eyes flashed dangerously. "Alright, listen up! And that goes for you too, Windrider." She looked pointedly at Storm, who was glaring back heatedly. "You're going to do exactly as I say when I say it, and I won't put up with any backtalk." 

"What?!" Kitty exclaimed. "Why should we listen to anything you say, you shape-shifting snake?" 

Mystique smiled smugly. "Because I'm the only one who knows the whereabouts of Charles Xavier. Mess with me and he'll be killed. Understand?" 

Scott felt the blood drain from his face. "You kidnapped the Professor?" he asked through numb lips. 

"Oh, yes. Quite some time ago." 

Todd hopped gleefully in place. "And ain't none o'you realized it, yo!" 

Scott slumped, all the strength in his body dissipating like smoke in a strong breeze. Jean was beside him in an instant, supporting him, her face a mask of dismay. The New Recruits huddled close together, looking at each other and then at Scott with identical expressions of terrified disbelief. Scott shook his head… he couldn't handle this. 

"What have you done, Mystique? What do you want?" Storm's voice was cold. 

Mystique grinned. The Brotherhood boys had reassembled behind her and were watching the expressions of the X-Men with morbid interest. Wanda stood off to one side, her eyes inscrutable and fixed on the smoking ruin of the X-mansion. 

"Charles Xavier has been missing since before our little skirmish at the Bayville mall," Mystique told them with obvious relish. "I took his place the day I rescued Wanda from the asylum. And not a single one of you noticed." She laughed. "I OWN you, X-Men." 

Scott felt his hands curl into fists. She was right; they'd been had. 

"As for what I want," Mystique continued. "I want my revenge. Magneto will pay for what he's done to me. To us. In case you hadn't noticed, your sweet little 'normal' lives are ruined. There is no going back." She paused and crossed her arms, studying the X-Men with a serious expression. "You have a choice: come with me or try and survive on your own. Join me and I promise you a safe haven from the outside world. We will also rescue your captured teammates and make Magneto pay for his crimes." 

"And the Professor?" Scott asked. Rage and turmoil whipsawed through his body. 

"Join me and you might get to see him outside a morgue." 

Silence reigned for what seemed like an eternity. 

"Bitch," Scott hissed. 

"Well now," Storm said. "That's not really much of a choice now is it Mystique?" 

Mystique shrugged. "It's a choice. Make your decision now. We're wasting time." 

"We'll join you, Mystique," Scott said as he pulled himself erect. He could feel the gaze of every last one of his teammates fall upon him like stones. The words hurt, god, how they hurt. 

Mystique smiled. "I thought you'd see reason. Now come on, let's move." Scott nodded dazedly and motioned for the rest of the team to follow. Mystique stopped, glaring. "Not them." She pointed to the New Recruits, who were still huddling together. 

"What?" Scott asked. 

"I said, not THEM. They're useless." 

"Which is why you tried to blow em up, huh?!" Tabitha pushed her way forward, her cheeks flushed with anger. "Is that it? They're not good enough for your little Dork Squad so you just decided to MURDER them?" 

Todd winced a little, whether at the idea of Mystique being so cold-hearted or at the 'Dork Squad' comment Scott couldn't tell. 

Mystique met Tabitha's gaze and held it icily. "Yes. Now get out of my face, Bam-Bam, before you make me really angry." 

Tabitha started to open her mouth but noticed Fred and Todd making 'no' gestures at her and thought better of it. Scott moved forward, his eyebrows drawn together angrily. "So are we just supposed to abandon them?" he asked incredulously. "We can't DO that!" 

"Oh yes you can," Mystique purred. "Unless you don't care what happens to Xavier." 

Scott felt a hand on his shoulder and turned. It was Bobby, his young face set in determined lines. "Go," he said. 

"But…" 

"Scott, you have to save the others, and the Professor." He smiled. "We'll be okay. I promise. We'll pay you back for saving our lives by making the most of them, okay?" Bobby leaned closer and whispered, "And when you kick Mystique's puckered old butt we'll be waiting for you." 

Scott tried to smile in return and almost succeeded. "Okay. Take care of each other." 

Amara forced a smile. "We will, Scott." 

"Touchy-feely time is OVER," Mystique interrupted. "Now come on, we have to save Rogue and the others before it's too late." 

"Vhat does she care?" Kurt muttered under his breath. "She just vants more pawns in her little game." 

Ignoring the pain in his heart and his pride, Scott held his head high, glancing at Storm quickly for support. She nodded slightly. They didn't have a choice. "Okay X-men, let's go." 

* * * 

The New Recruits stood silently until the X-men and the Brotherhood had vanished from sight. In truth, none of them really knew what to say. 

_There they go,_ Bobby thought. _And that leaves us… where?_

Someone was sniffling; he thought it was Rahne. 

Pull it together, he thought. 

"Okay," Bobby said. His voice sounded loud and phony to his own ears. He swallowed and tried to ignore the fear rising up inside him. He didn't want to do this; he wanted to go HOME. 

"What are we gonna do, Bobby?" It was Jubilee. Her eyes seemed to take up half her face. 

"Well, we can't stay here," Bobby said, wishing his voice didn't waver quite so much. Scott's voice never wavered… "We've got to find a safe place to stay for now, until we can contact our parents. We can decide what to do from there. So does anyone have any ideas where we can hide out?" 

They were silent, staring at the ground, the sky, the ruined mansion… but not each other. Finally Tabitha cleared her throat. 

"Hey you guys, if you want… I have a place. I've been squatting at this old abandoned house just outside town since I moved outta Moron Manor." She shrugged. "It kinda sucks, I guess, but I've seen worse. Anyhow, you're welcome to stay there if you want to." 

Bobby smiled. "Thanks, Tabitha. I mean that." 

She grinned. "Well, we gotta stick together, yanno? And it's not like I have anything against you guys." 

"Okay. Great." Bobby smiled. "Uh… anyone have a car?" 

Tabitha grinned wickedly. "As a matter of fact, I do..." 

* * * 

_This is all your fault. If you hadn't been so angry, so blind… He's gone and now you're all in the hands of the enemy and it's All. Your. Fault._

Scott felt a cool hand on the back of his neck. He looked around miserably and saw Jean. "Hey," she said. 

"Hey," he replied. The X-Men and Brotherhood were inside an abandoned warehouse not far from the scene of their confrontation with Magneto's new recruits. Storm and Mystique were standing together, urgently discussing ideas for rescuing the captured mutants. 

"Scott, stop it," Jean said softly. 

"Huh?" 

"Don't 'huh' me." She put her other hand on his other shoulder and looked at him seriously. "This isn't your fault. We ALL feel guilty. Hell, I'm the telepath of this group!" Her eyes flashed bitterly. "If anyone should have noticed the Professor wasn't himself, it's me." 

"Jean, no…" 

"Yes. But that's not important. The important thing is getting him back." She smiled. "And for that, we need YOU, Scott Summers." 

He put a hand over one of hers and returned the smile. "Understood. Better get my head together, huh?" 

"Yeah." She let go of him. "It'll be okay, Scott." 

"Yeah." He watched her as she walked over to Kitty, enfolding the younger girl into her arms. "Okay." 

"Real touching, Summers. I feel like I'm watching an after-school special." 

Scott tensed. "Back off, Alvers." 

"Touchy, touchy." Avalanche smirked insolently at him. "Face it, Summers, you're a bunch of suckers and WE'VE got the upper hand here." 

"Look, rock-tumbler-" 

"No, YOU look." Avalanche cut him off, suddenly snarling. "Let's get something straight here: we don't bow to you. We work for Mystique and if I'm forced to play nice with you it's because she said to do so, not because I respect you. You are not in charge here. Remember that, and don't go fucking up. It ain't just your X-Geeks down in that hole." 

"Oh, you actually give a rat's ass about your missing teammate? That's a shock." 

"Fuck you!" Scott was a little surprised at how vehement the other boy sounded. "You don't know shit." He started to walk off, but paused and looked at Scott over his shoulder. "Hey, Summers? Piss me off and you'll regret it no matter what Mystique's orders to me are." 

_Can't wait to see you try it, Alvers…_

Storm signaled for his attention. "Okay, X-Men," he said. "Looks like we're about to move out." 

* * * 


	2. the Wound

**Disclaimer:** All the characters depicted in the following work of fiction are property of Marvel… I just borrow them on occasion and do utterly unwholesome things to them. 

**Bloodstained Machinations   
Chapter Two**   
By N 

Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. And sometimes the best offense is a no-holds-barred, beat-the-living-shit-out-of-it, full-out frontal attack. 

Which was Lance Alvers' favourite course of action. 

The metal platform used to hoist the Sentinel to ground level had been raised once more, hiding the underground base where the captured mutants were presumably being held. It was far too heavy for Jean Grey to telekinetically control, and there were no buttons or levers in sight. Even if there had been, they would have had a tough time finding them; soldiers clad in black were stationed furtively about the platform. 

The platform was the only known entrance to the underground base, and both Storm and Mystique agreed that they didn't have time to attempt to find another way in. They weren't, however, of the same mind when it came to how they should approach the problem. Storm was determined to make sure that as few humans were hurt during the rescue operation as possible. Mystique on the other hand, couldn't care less about human life and subscribed to the motto "when in doubt, blow the motherfucker to pieces." 

Lance was awfully glad he didn't work for Storm. 

"Look, it ain't no problem," he interrupted the discussion between Boss-Ladies. "It's underground, right? So I just crack open the surface." 

"Hold up there a second, Alvers." It was Cyclops. Of course. "We can't risk that." 

"What? You kiddin me, Summers? You actually care if a bunch of people who want us DEAD get avalanched? Fuck that." 

"No, what I DO care about is accidentally crushing our teammates under a ton of rock. We don't know where they are down there and bringing the entire place down on their heads certainly won't make it easier to find them." Cyclops ran a hand through his hair. "Okay. Here's what I'm thinking… That platform goes straight down, right? From what we saw there's not much activity right below it because well, it'd get squished. So… if we can drop the platform, JUST the platform, we can have Jean and Storm lower us down after it. When the platform hits the bottom it'll cause a distraction and hopefully buy us enough time to grab someone who looks official and figure out where the others are being held." 

"That might just work," Mystique said. "I can see why they appointed you leader, Cyclops. You know how to use your BRAIN every now and then." She glared at Lance as she said so and he felt an angry flush trying to rise in his cheeks. 

"Right." Cyclops turned to Lance. "Answer this honestly or this is all gonna be a royal screw-up: can you shake that platform loose without bringing the entire ceiling in on the people down there?" 

Lance felt his lips curl into the disrespectful smirk that had replaced his smile years ago. "Of course." 

Cyclops continued to stare at him for a minute. "This had better not be more of your macho posturing, Alvers," he said quietly. "I don't like it but I have to depend on you." 

"Worry about getting us down there in once piece, Summers. I can handle this." 

"Alright. Jean?" Scott asked, turning his attention to the redheaded telepath. "How many of us can you hold up?" 

"I'd say two of you, plus myself." 

"I can 'port down, and take someone along," Nightcrawler added. "Two people, even." 

"Here's the plan then," Mystique spoke up. "Jean, you carry Cyclops and Wanda down. Kurt, you can teleport Avalanche and I, while Storm handles the re-" 

"No," Kurt said. Mystique paused. 

"What? Kurt, Avalanche has to shake the platform loose so he won't be ready to descend immediately after it begins to move…" 

"_Nein._ I von't 'port with you, Mystique." 

Mystique's lips pressed together to form a thin line; it looked more like a twisted scar than a mouth. 

"Hey Kurt, I'll like, go with you and Lance, okay?" It was Kitty. "I hate floating." 

Mystique looked like she was about to protest, but then she turned her back on Nightcrawler and addressed Storm instead. "Windrider, I'm with you. Okay people, let's get going!" 

* * * 

The fog rolled slowly in off the water; a natural phenomenon that was slightly irritating but hardly unusual. Combined with the dusk of evening, visibility above the base was becoming quite limited. A few of the black-clad soldiers adjusted their laser-sight weapons nervously, but for the most part they just grumbled about the weather and kept a half-trained eye on the perimeter. None suspected the fog of being a deliberate cover. 

"Ready, Alvers?" Scott whispered. His heart was thudding unevenly in his chest. If they messed up… 

"Yeah, yeah. Get off my back, willya? Gotta concentrate." 

Scott watched impassively as the other boy took a few deep breaths and then fixed his gaze on the platform. His breathing caught suddenly and the ground began to shake minutely beneath their feet. Avalanche's mouth twisted into an unconscious snarl and his eyes rolled back in their sockets as the earth surrounding the platform started to quake violently. From the white depths of the fog confused, frightened shouts rang out. 

"Hurry it up, Alvers," Scott murmured. 

Avalanche grunted, his hands suddenly hooking into spastic claws as the ground lurched. There was a thunderous grating noise as the platform was ripped free of its moorings. 

"There it goes!" Toad shouted excitedly. 

"Move!" Scott yelled, running towards the gaping hole in the ground. He could sense the others backing up his charge. A bewildered soldier appeared out of the mist, gun halfway raised. Mystique delivered a swift kick to his head and moved on without a backwards glance at the meaty thud he made as his insensible body hit the ground. 

"Jean!" Scott shouted. He felt himself telekinetically lifted, and then they were moving down, following the passage of the metal platform. 

_Kurt will have to wait until it hits the bottom before he can 'port… Hope they can fend off anyone who comes their way in the meantime… No time to think about it now._

They were coming up on the bottom level fast. Once they reached it they'd have only minutes before security was dispatched and they were outnumbered. They could only pray they could grab someone who knew the whereabouts of the captured mutants. 

"Ground level!" Jean shouted. Seconds later they landed on the platform, which was vibrating slightly from the impact. Scott felt a rush of air and knew that meant Storm and the others were landing as well; seconds later he smelt the telltale sulfur scent of Kurt's teleportation. Good. 

The room was large, metal and virtually deserted. A few men in white lab coats were standing on the second floor, leaning over metal railings to get a better look at what was going on. One of them, a man in his late thirties with a crew-cut and large glasses had a large badge pinned on the left side of his chest. Security identification card, and more offical-looking than the ones the other men wore. 

"Kurt!" Scott said and pointed. "That guy with the crew-cut!" 

"I'm on it!" Kurt shouted and teleported. He returned a second later with the man in question struggling in his grip. 

"Let me go!" Crew-cut shouted. 

Mystique was on him faster than Scott would have thought possible, her hands wrapping themselves around Crew-cut's throat. She brought her face close to his and hissed, "Captured mutants. If you know where they are, tell me. Or I snap your neck." 

"Wha… I…" 

Mystique adjusted her grip. 

"Okay! Th-the muties… they took them to Level C!" 

"That helps," Toad muttered. 

"Where's Level C?" Scott asked. Time was getting short… 

Crew-cut pointed. "Third floor! Down the hallway on the left! God, don't kill me!" 

Mystique smiled. Before she could snap Crew-cut's neck anyway, however, Storm pulled her away. "No," she said. Mystique instead hit Crew-cut over the back of the head, rendering him unconscious. 

"Let's move!" Scott shouted. "Jean, Storm, Kurt, get us up onto the third level!" 

When he touched the walkway of the third floor, Scott noticed alarms were going off. "Great," he muttered. "Quick, down the hall!" 

They ran. Alarms blared constantly, an urgent soundtrack to their pounding footfalls. Suddenly a group of soldiers appeared in front of them, guns ready. Before they could even order 'Freeze' however, they were sent flying into the walls by a strong gust of wind, courtesy of Storm. They moved on, searching frantically for any sign of where their comrades might be. 

"Door!" Kurt shouted. On the left side of the hallway was a large metal door with an electronic lock. 'Authorized Personal' was written on the surface in red. Kitty phased through it momentarily, then popped back into the hallway. 

"Scott, Beast is in here! He's being kept in like, this weird electric cage. I think I can short it out by walking through it." 

"Go for it, Kitty." 

Kitty vanished again. A few minutes later she and a very dazed looking Hank McCoy phased through the door together. Storm went to his side, shouldering some of his weight. 

"Welcome back, Hank," she said. "How are you feeling?" 

"I'll be alright in a few minutes," he said. "Let's hurry up and get out of here." 

Kitty was already phasing through the next door in the hallway. "I found Evan!" she called. 

"Is he alright?" Storm asked. Scott had to admire her for staying so calm; it was her nephew in there, after all. 

"Yeah, he looks ok. He's in one of those cage-things too, but I don't think he's drugged like Beast was. Be right back with him!" Kitty vanished again, and then reappeared with a very happy-looking Evan. 

"Auntie O!" he exclaimed. Storm's face broke into a wide grin. 

"Evan! Oh thank Goddess you're alright!" 

"Ah, was there ever any doubt?" He grinned. Kitty was phasing through more doors. She passed through one of the right side of the hallway and suddenly there was a shout and the sound of gunfire. 

"Kitty!" Avalanche said, bolting over to the door she'd phased through. He looked about ready to try and knock it down when her head popped through the metal. "WAGH!" 

"Whoa, hey Lance. Like, calm down. I'm okay. Some yahoo was in here with Rogue and he like, tried to shoot me. Lousy shot though. Be right back." She exited the room with Rogue, who was staring at the floor and hunching over a little. 

Maybe she's been drugged too, Scott thought. "Rogue, you okay?" 

"Ah'm fine," Rogue replied curtly. "Let's get outta here." 

Kitty emerged from yet another room with an extremely pissed-off Wolverine. His hands were encased in some sort of electronic shackle device, which Cyclops promptly blasted off. "When I get my hands on that little worm," Wolverine was muttering. 

"Some other time," Mystique said. Wolverine snarled at her. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here." 

"What?" Avalanche asked. 

"I said let's GO. We got what we came for," 

"What about Freddy, yo?" Toad asked. His watery eyes moved from Mystique to Avalanche and back again. 

"No time," Mystique said. She was looking at Rogue, who was still staring at the floor. "We need to get out while we can. I saw an exit map back by the hall entrance… if we take the next right we should get to an emergency elevator. I vote we go that route instead of trying to fight our way back the way we came." She morphed into a nondescript man in a lab coat. "I'll go ahead first to make sure the way is clear, the rest of you follow. Okay, let's go." 

"Hey, wait a second!" It was Avalanche. "We can't just leave him behind! It would take like, two seconds Mystique…" 

"DON'T question my orders!" she shouted. 

"Fuck your orders! I ain't leavin' without Fred!" 

"I found him!" Kitty shouted. She'd phased through the remaining doors while the argument had been going on. "But he's like, almost totally out of it! I think I can get him through the door but he's gonna need help getting out of here." With that she vanished, then came back through practically dragging the Blob with her. As soon as she was in the hallway again she moved away so his immense bulk wouldn't crush her. Avalanche and Toad both attempted to help the massive teen stand. 

"Freddy, yo Freddy, we gotta move, man! Toad shouted urgently. The Blob muttered something unintelligible in response. 

"We're leaving NOW! Cyclops, you and your team had better be right behind me." Mystique roared, then ran off towards the emergency exit. The X-Men ran after her, Wolverine now helping Beast along. 

Scott spared a glance over his shoulder. The Brotherhood boys were lagging behind, burdened by the barely conscious hulk that was the Blob. _We should help them,_ he thought. _They might not be able to keep up and then… But… the Professor… _

Scott forced his eyes forward and ran on. 

_Sorry._

* * * 

**Author's Notes:** I got a review asking me to tone the language down, which mystified me as the last chapter had virtually no cursing in it. So, a warning to you sensitive people: I have no intentions of cleaning up my filthy mouth. ^_- 


	3. Rust

**Disclaimer:** All characters depicted in the following fic are property of those hairy little gnomes at Marvel. They swear and bite if you rub their tummies. 

**Bloodstained Machinations**   
Chapter Three   
By N 

The sound of the blaring alarms had mingled with those of her sharp, urgent breathing and the thunder of footfalls to create a cacophonic symphony perfect in its chaos. _Rats in a maze,_ Kitty Pryde thought as she and her teammates passed another identical row of doors. _Oh, God, please let us get out of here._

"There!" Mystique shouted. Kitty flicked hair from her eyes and looked; at the end of the metallic hallway was a door with the frame painted red. An exit sign bled neon above it. 

"Thank you," Kitty heard Jean mutter. Since freeing Beast, Wolverine, Evan and the Blob they had run into only three soldiers. The first Mystique, still disguised as a base scientist, had dispatched with a brutal kick to the back of the neck. There had been a noise like celery being snapped in half that Kitty had done her best to ignore. Wolverine, who was more than willing to vent some anger on the enemy, had quickly subdued the other two. 

Wolverine had opened the door to the emergency exit and Mystique was ushering the children through it and up the adjacent staircase. Storm and Wolverine were already going up the stairs with Cyclops close behind, ready to handle any potential threats. Kitty paused and looked behind her. Avalanche, Toad and the Bob were still in sight, but lagging badly behind. "Hurry up, Lance!" Kitty shouted. 

"Shadowcat!" Mystique barked. "Move it!" 

"But Lance…" 

"Will be fine. Go." Mystique grabbed Kitty's upper arm and propelled the girl though the doorway. Kitty stumbled and caught herself on the staircase's handrail. Mystique moved quickly towards the stairs, pushing Kitty roughly ahead of her. Kitty started to climb, casting one last glance over Mystique's shoulder at the doorway. 

Nothing. 

They moved upwards. 

The stairs opened on a low, grey room with a hatch set into the ceiling. "Zat must be the way out," Kurt remarked, pointing. 

"Okay," Wolverine said. "I'm gonna open it. The rest of you be ready to make a fast getaway." He slowly opened the hatch and pulled himself out. A few tense seconds passed during which Kitty could feel perspiration beading her forehead. Finally Wolverine poked his head back down. "All clear," he said. "It's one of the warehouses. My guess is they have these hidey-holes all over the place. Just like a damn warren." 

The kids pulled themselves out into the warehouse one by one. Kitty lingered near the hatch, glancing down every now and then in the hopes of seeing the Brotherhood boys. _Maybe we should go back for them,_ she started to say when the ground began to shake. 

"This whole place is gonna fall on us!" Evan shouted. 

"Everybody out!" Cyclops ordered. They began to exit the warehouse as quickly as they could while beneath them the ground quaked violently. 

"But Scott," Kitty said. "What about-" 

"No time, Runt," Wolverine snarled. Kitty nodded and phased through the wall and into chaos. 

They were set some distance back from the platform they'd crashed to gain access to the base. Soldiers and lab personnel were fleeing similar warehouses like rabbits, not paying any attention to the X-men at all. This was largely due to the fact that the ground around the platform entry was collapsing. The earth heaved as though in monstrous labor; the sound of cascading earth and fracturing metal supports the unholy cries accompanying the birth of ruin. 

"He's bringing the whole place down," Kitty heard Scott murmur with faint awe. "Right on top of them." 

Panic bloomed in her mind like a poisonous flower. "Scott!" Kitty cried. "The Brotherhood… they're still down there!" 

"Nothing we can do," Mystique said. "We have to get out of here while we still can. Everybody, move!" 

With no other choice available, they ran. 

* * * 

"We just left them!" Kitty wailed, leaning into the soft curvature of Jean's chest. "I can't believe we did that!" She sobbed inarticulately and Jean held her close, smoothing her hair. Her bright green eyes landed on Mystique with cold contempt. 

"We could have saved them," Jean said. 

"We might have died," Mystique retorted sharply. 

They were currently hiding in a wooded area termed a nature park by city officials. The helicopter was concealed nearby and Mystique was attempting to load the X-Men onto it so they could escape to whatever hiding place she had in mind. 

"They were YOUR team," Jean persisted. 

"They were expendable. Now unless you feel the Professor is also, I suggest we get moving." Mystique paused. "Where's Wolverine?" 

Cyclops looked around, feeling almost dazed. Wolverine was nowhere in sight. 

"Shit," Mystique growled. "Windrider? Where's the animal?" 

"I don't know, Mystique," Storm replied calmly. The chill in her voice was almost imperceptible. Almost. "Logan is quite adept at slipping away unseen." 

"Fine. Better off without him," Mystique muttered. "Okay, everyone onto the copter. We've got a fair distance to fly so-" 

"Hey! Hey, wait up, yo!" 

Mystique froze, her face frankly disbelieving. Leaping towards them, smudged from head to foot with dust and dirt, was Todd Tolensky. He had a cut above his left eye where grit clumped against slowly oozing blood. 

"Toad?" Kurt asked incredulously. 

"None other than!" Toad answered with desperate cheer. He bounded over to Mystique and looked up at her with a pained expression. "You gotta wait a sec, Boss-Lady!" he said. "Freddy an' Lance, they're right behind me…" 

"Lance?" Kitty asked, pushing herself away from Jean. "Is he okay?" 

"No, I dunno… No. I think he mighta blew his brain out." He turned his attention back to Mystique, ignoring Kitty's startled gasp. "They can hardly stay conscious. You gotta wait!" 

Mystique moved towards the helicopter. "They'd better hurry up," she said. "We leave in five minutes, with or without them." 

Toad stared, his throat working. Then he turned and leapt quickly off the way he had come. Kitty ran after him, followed by Scott and Kurt. Mystique called after them but was ignored. 

Under other circumstances, the scene that greeted them might have been funny. The Blob was standing in one place, leaning against a tree. He, like Toad, was streaked with dirt. He was holding Avalanche up like a giant rag doll, his eyes slow and drugged. 

"Freddy!" Toad hollered as he jumped in front of the massive teen. "We gotta go! Mystique's gonna leave without us!" Kitty was shocked to realize the boy was close to tears. "Freddy, come on! Can you hear me?" 

"Yeah," the Blob managed to reply. His voice was thick and his words slurred. "I hear ya. We're going." He took a step and blinked slowly down at Avalanche. "I think he passed out," he remarked calmly. 

"Oh my God, Lance!" Kitty said and sprinted to the Blob's side. Avalanche too was covered in dirt. Bright red rivulets ran from his nostrils and the front of his uniform was soaked with blood. His eyelids fluttered weakly and his breathing was shallow. 

"Holy shit," Scott muttered, coming up alongside Kitty. "Was it an aneurysm?" 

"What's that?" Toad asked. 

"It's when one of the blood vessels in the brain is weakened," Scott replied absently as he got one arm under the other boy's and eased him out of the Blob's hold. "Sometimes they break open, so there's a hemorrhage in the brain. They can be fatal." He looked to Kurt. "Can you port all of us back to the helicopter?" 

"_Ja._ Everyone hang onto each other." There was a sudden _bamf_ and then they were standing back with the rest of the X-men. Mystique eyes the Brotherhood dispassionately and gestured for them to hurry up and board the helicopter. They scrambled aboard, Scott lugging Avalanche's unmoving form with him. As soon as they were seated Mystique started up the copter and took off, piloting them towards an unknown destiny. 

"Beginning of the end," Wanda muttered against the cool metal wall of the copter. Scott glanced over at her but she had closed her eyes and sat motionless and mask-like, as though she had said nothing at all. 

_Or the end of the beginning…?_ Scott wondered. 

* * * 

**Author's Notes:** Now would be a good time to warn you all I have a penchant for maiming/killing my favourite characters. ^__^ Also, some people may argue that Mystique wouldn't leave the Brotherhood behind as they are her lackeys. I beg to differ. For one thing, she ditched the Brotherhood for pretty much the whole second season of the show, so obviously she's not emotionally attached to the morons. But more importantly, Mystique is not the type to go back for people she's merely using if it involves endangering herself; she puts her own needs before everyone else's… even those of her family. 


	4. the Machine

**Disclaimer:** All characters depicted in the following work of fiction are property of Marvel and are used without permission. But seriously, if anyone should get sued it should be whoever thought that Star Trek slash was a GOOD idea. "Oh, Captain Kirk… you are so sexy. Allow me to remove your girdle…" 

**Bloodstained Machinations**   
Chapter Four   
By N 

Scott felt his mouth twist into a strange, bitter line when he realized the helicopter had been set down behind the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House. "This is your secret hiding place, Mystique?" he asked. His voice sounded hostile and strained to his own ears. 

Mystique snarled at him. "It's all the home any of us have, Cyclops. Drag Avalanche's corpse inside, would you? Or at least prop it up outside… I don't want it stinking up the copter." 

"He's not DEAD, Mystique," Jean muttered half-heartedly as the shapeshifter climbed out of the helicopter. Scott got an arm under the unconscious boy and sighed. 

"I guess asking for an ambulance is out of the question…?" he asked. 

"Probably," Jean replied, rubbing her temples. "Scott… how bad is it?" 

"I'm not a doctor so I can't say. If it WAS an aneurysm..." he trailed off and shrugged helplessly. "I... I don't think there's much we can do." He hoisted Avalanche up, feeling the drag of dead weight on his arm, and hauled him outside onto the grass. He was about halfway to the house when Avalanche's eyes fluttered and he made a choking gargle in the back of his throat. 

"Alvers? Hey, Alvers?" Scott asked, stopping. Lance pushed himself away and stumbled a few steps before falling over on his hands and knees. Scott took a step closer, aware that Todd was close by as well. Lance held up one hand in a warding-off gesture, his eyes squeezing shut and his free arm wrapping itself around his stomach. He retched feebly once, and then vomited a glut of blood onto the yellowing grass. He dry heaved once more before going still, panting roughly and keeping his eyes closed. 

Scott advanced warily. "Alvers? You okay?" 

"Fuckin' peachy," Lance croaked, wiping the back of one hand across his mouth. He looked at it and grimaced. "Ugh." 

"Is he dyin', yo?" Todd whispered. 

"No," Scott replied softly. "You just can't digest blood. I guess a lot of it went down his throat." "How's your head?" Scott asked, louder. 

"Hurts." Lance stood, knees attempting to buckle beneath him as he did so. He touched his face gingerly, wincing when his fingers came away red. "What the hell…?" His voice was quiet and not entirely steady. 

"We were afraid you'd ruptured something," Scott said. "But it looks like it wasn't serious. After all, you're moving. Do you feel odd at all? Numb anywhere?" 

"No, my head just hurts like a sonofabitch." 

"Let's get you inside," Todd suggested. "You can lie down for a while. Chew some aspirin." 

"Yeah. Yeah, good." 

Todd helped the older boy towards the house and Scott overhead him mutter, "S'good to be home." 

Home. 

_Something we don't have..._ Scott thought. 

* * * 

It was, Jean Grey decided, the worst situation she'd ever been in. A full twenty-four hours had passed since their arrival at the Brotherhood Boarding House and she was already miserable. She and Kitty were sharing one of the dilapidated rooms on the upper level of the house where the only furniture were two stained mattresses and an old trunk whose lid had rusted shut. The only clothes either of them had were their uniforms and they'd had hardly anything to eat. All in all she was starting to feel like an orphan in a Charles Dickens' novel. 

She sat in the sour semi-darkness of her room, insipidly grateful that she had at least had a chance to have a shower. She had a lock of hair caught between her fingers and she was playing with it listlessly when a soft knock sounded at her half-open door. "Come in," Jean said. 

Scott eased the door open tentatively. "Hey," he said with false casualness. 

"Hi, Scott." 

"Just thought I'd, you know, see how you're doing." 

Jean let go of her hair and sighed irritably. "Not good," she replied shortly. Scott winced. 

"Yeah, that's' what I thought." He sat down next to her uninvited and Jean turned away a little. "Jean, look, this is temporary. You know that." 

She passed a hand over her face. "I know. It's just… this _place_, Scott. It's filthy and falling apart and… scary." She turned to face him. "I don't like having Mystique calling the shots." 

"Neither do I," he replied, putting an arm around her. Jean leaned against him gratefully. "But what other choice do we have? Right now: none. That will change," he added, his voice hardening, "but until it does we have to be tough." He shook her good-naturedly, smiling on the outside. "Okay?" 

Jean could feel the weariness and anxiety surrounding him, choking him, so she nodded. "Okay." 

"That's my girl. Where's Kitty at?" 

"She said something about taking a walk. I think she's probably checking on Avalanche." 

Scott wrapped his arms around her and held her for a minute in silence. "I'm gonna go check on Rogue," he said at last. "She seems kinda upset." 

Jean felt a brief flash of anger. _Oh, and I'm not?_ she felt like saying, but bit the words back. This was not the time to be overcome by petty jealousy; Scott felt it was his duty as leader to ensure all members of his team were coping with the situation. 

"Okay. Come see me before you go to bed, alright?" 

"You bet," he said, brushing his lips quickly against her forehead. "Thanks, Jean." He stood and exited, leaving her alone in the gloom again. 

"Sure. No problem." 

* * * 

Lance had decided that if you stared very hard at the cracks running across the ceiling they started to look exactly like… cracks. 

"Fuck," he muttered, wondering if he could find the strength to haul himself off of his bed and to the bathroom to hunt for more aspirin. Before he could reach a decision there was a knock at his door. 

"What?" he shouted, then winced. Yelling hurt his head. It didn't really occur to him to stop, however. 

"Lance? It's Kitty. Can I come in?" 

Lance quickly adopted a nonchalant pose, propping himself up on his elbows and hoping he didn't give away the fact that it felt like something was trying to birth its way out of his skull. "Yeah, sure," he called. 

Kitty entered, smiling and trying not to be too obvious about checking out Lance's room. "Hey. I thought I'd just like, you know, come see how you're doing." 

"Great," Lance lied, striving for a manly 'nothing-can-hurt-me-baby' sort of attitude. Kitty smiled again. _Yes!_ he thought. _She can't resist the bad-boy vibe of Lance Alve-Oh Jesus, what is that hanging on my closet door?_ To his horror Lance realized that the object in question was a pair of boxer shorts he'd gotten for Christmas one year that featured happy little elves cavorting around with jumbo candy-canes jammed between their legs like freakish holiday strap-ons. 

"That's good. Uhm, can I sit down?" 

"Sure, yeah, go ahead." Lance moved his legs so Kitty could sit at the foot of his bed, hoping desperately that she didn't turn her head to the left and notice his humiliating underwear. Lance was pretty sure they weren't even clean. 

"I'm really glad you're okay," Kitty began, staring at her clasped hands. "When the whole place started shaking I thought… I thought, 'Oh my god, I'm never going to see him again.'" Kitty looked up at Lance, her mouth trembling a little. "Lance, we wanted to go back for you and the Brotherhood. I just thought you should know that." 

Lance sat silent for a minute, staring thoughtfully at a point somewhere above Kitty's head. "Thanks," he said after a moment's consideration. He moved closer to her and put an arm around her shoulders. When she didn't resist he cautiously kissed her neck. Kitty sighed and wrapped her arms around him, her eyes slipping shut as his mouth found hers. She pulled away a few minutes later when his hands started creeping up her torso to her breasts. 

"Whoa, down boy," she said, blushing. "I came in here to check up on you, but NOT to play 'Naughty Nurse,' okay?" 

His mouth curved into a lopsided grin. "Hey, you know you had nothin' to worry about, right? Nobody messes with me, not even freaky scientists with pet robots." 

Kitty arched an eyebrow at his bravado. "Lance, I've been meaning to ask you - what exactly _happened_ down there?" 

Lance frowned. "Kitty, does it really matter?" 

"Yes!" she said. "I mean, jeez Lance, you brought the entire place down on their heads and managed to hurt yourself in the process! I just want to make sure it was, like, necessary." 

Lance's scowl deepened. "Okay, fine. You wanna know? You guys all split, leaving me and Toad to lug Freddy along. I don't know if you've noticed, but Fred ain't exactly the easiest thing in the world to move. There was all this yelling from behind us and Fred was just standing there, totally out of it while Toad was hopping all over the place saying stuff like "They're gonna catch us, we gotta get out of here, DO something, they're gonna catch us.' So I… I started to get kinda…" He sighed explosively and stared at the wall. "I panicked. All I could think about was getting us out of there before we got shot or somethin'. So I started a quake and then…" 

"It just got out of hand?" Kitty whispered. 

"Yeah. No." His jaw tightened. "I started thinkin' how all these people were trying to kill us when we hadn't done anything to them. Nothin'. So while Toad was trying to pull Fred towards the staircase I started walking back the way we came. I could hear people yelling and shit and I just decided that if they wanted to kill us so badly then I'd make sure it was a hell of a challenge. I thought about how that whole place was underground, and what would happen if the rock all around it just decided to cave in. They'd be crushed. Bam, no more giant robots, no more soldiers in black pajamas." 

"But Lance, there could have been innocent people down there!" Kitty exclaimed. "Those people, they had families… lives!" 

Lance shrugged, avoiding her stare. "Then they shouldn't have messed with us." 

Kitty stared at him, shocked by his apparent lack of remorse. After a moment of silence Lance continued, "Next thing I know I'm stumbling up a staircase and stuff is falling all around us. We got into this weird bunker-looking thing and I had to bring the ceiling down so Freddy could climb out. But there was all this junk that came crashing down through the hole I'd made and then I guess I blacked out. I remember thinking that we were gonna die, but it was okay because I'd made sure that at least what happened to us couldn't happen again. At least, not for a while." 

Lance finally turned to meet Kitty's gaze. "So. Sound necessary?" 

Kitty stood up. "I have to go," she said. 

"Why?" 

Kitty paused at the door, her hand on the knob. "Because I don't think I can look at you right now." 

"Kitty-" 

But the door had already shut softly behind her. 

* * * 

End 

Author's Notes: No aneurysm for Lancie-poo today, boys and girls, mainly because if you don't get to a hospital after you have one your chances of dying are extremely high. So why the nosebleed? Simple answer: blood rushing to the head.   
Lance's Brain: Must concentrate... narrgh... need more oxygen... Whoops, we're gushing from the nose here.   
Hell, I know I'VE had nosebleeds for less reason than that.   
Anyhow, obviously the story is NOT over. Keep your eyeballs peeled for not only more stories concerning this extremely fucked-up version of the mutant Brady Bunch but also tales concerning the fate of the New Recruits and darling little Pietro. Peace, love and everythang.   
PS: Feel free to visit www.originofspecies.cjb.net where all the Mutatis Mutandis stories are being archived in order of how they happen. There's also some artwork and other goodies to keep you amused. 


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